Following last year's Black Lives Matters protests, many companies started removing terminology like "slave" and "master" from their products, with the technology sector, in particular, making an effort to rid their work of those words. Now, it seems the entertainment industry is following suit as Boba Fett's iconic starship looks set to lose its "Slave I" moniker.
Over the weekend, LEGO held its first "LEGO Con" event and revealed three new sets based on The Mandalorian. Among them was "Boba Fett's Starship," and Star Wars fans were left wondering why the ship was no longer being referred to by its original name.
Talking to Jedi News, LEGO Star Wars Design Director Jens Kronvold Frederiksen and Lead Designer Michael Lee Stockwell shed some light on the change and confirmed the decision was made by Disney (and will be reflected in all merchandise - and likely other media - moving forward).
"We’re not calling it Slave I anymore," Stockwell said. "This is Boba Fett’s Starship." Frederiksen added: "Everybody is [dropping it]. It’s probably not something which has been announced publicly but it is just something that Disney doesn’t want to use anymore."
It will be interesting to see how this is handled in The Book of Boba Fett, but it probably just means that no one will refer to Slave I by name. That's not exactly a hard thing to do, and while some fans are likely to be upset with this news, it's really not the end of the world.
Disney and Lucasfilm's intentions are easy enough to understand, and being done for the right reason. On a much brighter note, this meme might give you a chuckle...